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This Is What Democracy Looks Like
Today's Note From a Madman
Friday-Sunday, August 17-19, 2007
"Citizen" Rove
"Wars are difficult,"
-Karl Rove on Meet the Press
Yes, Mr. Rove. Wars are difficult. Yet, when people like former Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld says stuff like, The Iraq war "could last, you know, six
days, six weeks. I doubt six months," no one, not even you, came out and said,
"The Secretary of defense might be a bit off base here." When Dick Cheney said,
"In fact, we will be greeted as liberators" and the Iraqi people will throw
"flowers at our feet", you didn't come back and even attempt at qualifying his
statements. And when Paul Wolfowitz, a leading NeoCon and one of Rumsfeld's
chief deputies said that Iraq's oil money would pay for the Iraq war; and others
in the White House said that it would only cost the American taxpayer no more
than 1.5 billion dollars, where was Karl Rove and his calculator?
Funny how Rove went on Meet the Press when substitute host "Little-Stretch"
David Gregory was there. Tim Russert was on vacation and Rove was basically
given a free pass to say what he wanted to. During Gregory's scripted interview
(you could see him going form one predetermined question to another), the guy
who had a reputation as a bit of a White House briefing room maverick
interrupted Rove's spin a grand total of just one time. Maybe "Little Stretch"
(so named by President Bush during a rare press conference because there was
actually someone larger than Gregory's six-foot six-inch frame present in the
Briefing room on one occasion) is looking for GE-owned NBC's soft interviews of
the future and some plum corporate assignments
And for an "Ew" moment, at the same time Rove was appearing on Meet the Press,
he was appearing on Face the Nation with regular host Bob Schaeffer. Both shows,
during the time I watched them, gave Rove that free pass with those, seemingly,
scripted questions. Rove in stereo is a scary thing.
At least we now know what Rove's new job is going to be: He's the "Unofficial
Official" mouthpiece of the Bush administration.
Regarding the "no present WMD" question, Rove stated "The whole world thought
there were" WMD's in Iraq. We all know that the WMD assertion was a lie, and a
bold-faced one at that. Rove is a master at rhetoric and spin, there can be no
doubt about that. After admitting that "mistakes were made", he went on to
explain that if we were to leave Iraq, Iran and the terrorists would be
"emboldened". When "Big Stretch" asked him about Iran, Rove gave the "stuff is
going on I can't talk about" excuse, and that was that. What Rove failed to
mention, and what Gregory failed to pursue was the fact that the Bushies fixed
the available intelligence on their preferred outcome. They wanted a war and, as
it appears today, they wanted a never-ending occupation. During this occupation,
the Bush "base" of "haves and have mores" have grown wealthier and more
powerful. The Industrial war machine, as described by the likes of none other
than former Republican President and War hero Dwight Eisenhower, has taken over
and fleeced the American taxpayer of hundreds of billions of dollars, on the way
to trillions. In their wake, we have the greatest national debt (CPI included)
in our history and we are weaker today than we have ever been in our recent
history. In short, they got what they wanted.
On Robert Novak and Valerie Plame: "I remember (the conversation with Novak) a
little bit differently. I remember saying to him, 'I heard that, too,"' in
reference to Joe Wilson's wife being a CIA agent. Rove even had the gall to say
that he wouldn't have confirmed his confirmation to Novak. Answering Gregory's
question on that point, Rove said that if he were asked by Novak, "Can you
confirm that", he would have said "no comment". Obviously that would have been
with a "wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more," to quote Eric
Idle's Monte Python character. Rove didn't want to say too much more. Although
belittling the case against him brought by Mrs. Wilson because it was thrown
out, he still used the case as an excuse saying, "I think it is better that I
not add anything to the public record."
Gregory asked Rove just where he did hear of Valerie Plame's identity.
Considering that he already admitted being the unconfirmed confirmation to
Novak, it's a fair question and one that we all should know. Even though Rove
was a Presidential advisor at the time of his knowing Plame's identity, he
should have had no knowledge of it. So we should all know who the traitor was
that released that info. His answer was simple and unchallenged by Gregory: "I'd
rather not say." Period - end f discussion.
When Rove went on to say that he "acted in an appropriate manner", I was
wondering exactly what an inappropriate manner would be. And, finally, when
Gregory asked him if he owed Valerie Plame an apology, even his body language
couldn't be disguised. At first he looked stunned by the question (probably the
only one he hadn't even thought of being asked); then shook his head from side
to side very, very slowly; and finally stated, softly, "No." For someone who I
deemed not to have anything close to a conscience, I was surprised.
Rove went on to shake off the soft "No" and got back to himself by stating "The
information (Joe Wilson's statements that the Italian spy's accounts and the
British report on yellowcake from Niger) was not proof-positive that the
information was not conclusive." This was, of course, another lie and today,
everyone knows that. The President never, ever brings it up. Nor does Dick
Cheney. It now takes the likes of a "Citizen Rove" to throw the lies at the
American people. It's just too bad that "Big Stretch" let that one go.
In referencing health care, Rove stated that Hillary Clinton is against allowing
people to purchase health insurance across state lines, similar to auto
insurance. What he fails to mention, of course, is that you can't truly purchase
auto insurance across state lines. Each state certifies all insurance companies
and you can only use auto insurers who are allowed in that state. Additionally,
if an auto insurance company based in Washington, DC, for example, were to
insure an automobile in New Jersey, that person could bring his car into an auto
body shop and simply have the money sent to that shop. You are allowed to use
body shops and repair facilities that aren't on the "preferred shop" lists
provided by the auto insurer.
Health care is trickier. No one is going to use a health care insurance company
with doctors in other states. You're not going to purchase HMO health insurance
from Kaiser Permanente with offices, doctors and hospitals on the West Coast
when you live in New York because HMO's only allow you to see doctors who are
"in the plan". Even when a policy which allows you to go "out of the plan"
allows you to choose your own doctor, you end up getting billed exorbitant
amounts of money because there is almost no restriction on the monies that the
health care provider can charge you.
In my opinion, as health care gets more and more important to the American
people, more and more will it be the deciding factor of the 2008 presidential
election. And I hope that the current crop of GOP hopefuls take the rove lead on
it and suffer their consequences.
-Noah Greenberg
THE LAVENDER TUBE: SLAUGHTER ON K *AND* WALL
STREET
by Victoria A. Brownworth
copyright c 2007 The San Francisco Bay Area
Reporter
Is it just us, or does Karl Rove look a lot like Elmer
Apparently it’s the End of Days for Rove on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Architect
is leaving town. The man who proclaimed he bit the heads off small animals for
sport on the tube last year, and who is going dove hunting for Labor Day (that
joke kind of writes itself, doesn’t it?), is leaving the White House and going
back to Texas to his rich wife and draft-age son.
Ah, the good life!
We had only one question as we watched the press conference in front of the big
presidential helicopter on the White House lawn: *What’s he hiding, this time?*
We doubt the real story will break. The White House line is “he has no more
elections to win.” But as we watched the crocodile-tearful exchange between the
President and the Architect who got him elected four times and ruined the
reputations of so many people with his swift-boating lies, we were humming “kill
de wabbit” and wondering what the real news was. Particularly since Rove took
his executive privilege with him.
Then again, how could anyone expect the current crop of TV journalists to report
the real news, anyway? That’s like expecting China *not* to put anti-freeze in
the toothpaste.
In ABC’s reporting of Rove’s exit, for example, White House reporter David
Wright noted Rove’s swift-boating of John Kerry: “The 2004 election witnessed a
sustained attack on John Kerry’s war record. An audacious move considering
*Bush’s Vietnam war record was weak.*”
*Bush’s Vietnam war record was weak?* Apparently Rove’s 2004 technique worked
better than anyone could have predicted, since the top-rated news network in
America, ABC, now believes Bush *had* a war record.
Here’s the *actual* record: Kerry served in Vietnam and received a Bronze Star,
a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts. These medals were given for *valor in
combat.* They don’t come in MREs like *CrackerJack* toys. Bush was in the Texas
National Guard and there have been serious questions over whether he actually
fulfilled his service requirements, questions raised in every election he has
entered since 1994. He was a cheat then and a cheat now. Maybe someone could
report on *that.*
Speaking of real news, what if you held a straw poll and nobody came? That’s
what happened to the Republicans last week in Iowa.
After predicting that *at least* 40,000 Iowans would leave their
air-conditioned, sports-TV-filled living rooms to trek out into the heat to have
Mitt Romney make them LDS flapjacks for breakfast (which is *nothing* like LSD
flapjacks), only 14,000 showed up.
Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Fred Thompson were among the no-shows. McCain
couldn’t afford the air-fare, Giuliani doesn’t like to leave New York and
Thompson, well, he looks best in California, pretending to be the re-incarnation
of Ronald Reagan.
On the surface this all seemed like good news for Romney, who won the straw poll
with 31 percent. But former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee came in at 18 percent.
Which set the Sunday morning talking heads to wagging and Huckabee declaring
himself the actual winner.
Now you might be thinking that 18 percent of nothing is still, well, *nothing,*
but in the sow’s ear equals silk purse world of the Republican delusionals, it
looked *big.*
We *would* like to remind everyone, however, that Huckabee was one of three
Republican candidates for president who does not believe in evolution. And the
other two who were anti-evolutionists, Sen. Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo had
15 and 14 percent of the Iowa vote, respectively. That means 47 percent of the
people who voted in Iowa voted for someone who doesn’t believe in evolution. Of
course just like the turnout itself, that number is low–because according to an
NBC poll, *68 percent* of Republicans don’t believe in evolution.
Which explains so much, doesn’t it?
Yes, the jokes *do* just write themselves.
Meanwhile *Nightline,* never missing an opportunity to spotlight the
anti-Christ, did a segment on Ann Romney. If you didn’t like her before the
interview with Cynthia McFadden, you pretty much loathed her after. It wasn’t so
much the unmovable Botoxed face, although that *does* always creep us out as we
have never been a big fan of ventriloquism and that mouth moving while
everything else remains static just seems, well, scary.
No, what got us in the end was the “I don’t let my very mild case of MS keep me
from identifying with Elizabeth Edwards who is *dying of cancer* or keep me from
spending time horseback riding and doing dressage like so many useless wives of
men valued at $250 million do.” For people with severe MS (we happen to be one
of them), it was ugly.
If her “my disease is better than your disease” shtick didn’t get you, then this
will: Romney gets the Michael Vick/Karl Rove animal abuse award for saying the
reports that Mitt strapped the family dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, to the
roof of the family car when they would drive on vacation, were, no pun intended,
*overblown.*
According to Mrs. Romney, the dog “really liked” driving on a freeway at 85
miles an hour strapped to the roof of the car. No, really, he did.
Just remember–these people *procreate like rabbits.*There are many more *just
like them.*
This tidbit was the palate cleanser in her explanation of how her husband
flip-flopped, uh, we mean “changed his mind” on abortion and stem-cell research
just in time for a new election.
“He changed his mind on life,” she said, only her mouth moving.
Yes indeed, the jokes *definitely* write themselves.
And for all you people who somehow missed it, Rudy Giuliani announced last week
to every TV news reporter he could buttonhole that *he* was a first responder at
Ground Zero, too.
ABC News reported this remarkable quote from Giuliani while he was stumping in
Cincinnati: “I was at Ground Zero as often, *if not more,* than most of the
workers. ... I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same
things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I’m one of them.”
This might be funny if people weren’t dying. Apparently Giuliani has that O.J.
thing going on: Repeat a lie often enough and you begin to believe it yourself.
Speaking of liars, if you are wondering why the John McCain campaign is in its
death throes, check out the segment from Jon Stewart at Crooks and Liars Media.
Stewart, in his ongoing shtick “Clusterfuck to the White House,” details the
incident where McCain’s Florida campaign manager, Bob Allen, was caught giving a
blow job to an undercover policeman for $20. Stewart not only plays the audio of
Allen’s excuses, but also suggests some of his own, as does sidekick John
Oliver. If you haven’t seen it, watch it. It will–pardon the pun–blow your mind.
No wonder McCain was complaining about being forced to wear “gay sweaters” by
his campaign manager.
And check out www. talkingpointsmemo.com, where you can see the TV video footage
of the Republican debacle at Iowa. Talk about the End of Days....
Now from K Street to Wall Street, as the stock market continued its free-fall,
and Mattel recalled a gazillion toys made in China, CNBC’s hot ticket on The
Street, Erin Burnett, had this to say on Chris Matthews’ *Hardball:* “A lot of
people like to, say, scaremonger about China, right? I think people should be
careful what they wish for on China–you know, if China were to revalue its
currency, or China is to start making, say, toys that don't have lead in them,
or food that isn't poisonous, their costs of production are going to go up. And
that means prices at Walmart, here in the United States, are going to go up too.
So, I would say China is our greatest friend right now. They're keeping prices
low, and they're keeping prices for mortgages low, too.”
So quit your bitching about the lead in the toys and the anti-freeze in the
toothpaste, will you? Because a little *death*–or just some serious illness–is
good for the economy. And besides, if Rudy Giuliani can take it, you can, too!
Now here’s a little tidbit for our “News You Aren’t Seeing” segment: According
to reporter Pam Spaulding, “Glenn Murphy, Jr., the recently elected chairman of
the Young Republican National Federation (also the RNC Chair for Clark County,
Indiana and formerly the YRNF Secretary) has been accused of sexually assaulting
a sleeping man.”
Spaulding noted that Murphy resigned for an unrelated reason immediately
following the accusation and his name was removed from the YRNF website.
Allegedly, Murphy and another YR were drunk and crashing at Murphy’s sister’s
house. The other man apparently awoke in the morning to find Murphy giving him a
non-consensual blow job. The Clark County (Indiana) Sheriff’s Department is
charging Murphy with “criminal deviate conduct,” a Class B felony.
Maybe Murphy was just trying to get the Chinese toothpaste out of his mouth.
Can we ask *why* this wasn’t news? Oh right–because he’s a Republican.
Speaking of queers who can’t admit *and* news you aren’t seeing, when TV and
media mogul Merv Griffin died August 12th, his closet door slammed shut forever.
Now don’t get us wrong–the man who invented *Jeopardy* was dear to our hearts.
But where was the mention of the palimony suits and the sexual harassment cases
that were brought against him–*by men*?
He was sued for sexual harassment by *Dance Fever* host Denny Terrio in 1991.
Terrio was also the choreographer for *Saturday Night Fever.* In the $11.5
million suit, Terrio alleged that Griffin, who originated and produced *Dance
Fever,* on which Terrio hosted for seven years, had requested sexual favors and
when Terrio refused, the show was cancelled.
Brent Plott, longtime employee of Griffin who served as bodyguard, horse trainer
and chauffeur, among other duties, sued Griffin for palimony in 1991 to the tune
of $200 million. Plott said he was co-inventor of *Wheel of Fortune* and
demanded half the profits. Plott, then 39, said he suffered emotional distress
and physical illness when Griffin ended their nine-year romantic and sexual
relationship and that Griffin had promised to support him for life.
Griffin called the suit “extortion.” The suit was eventually dismissed.
So why, when Griffin was such a TV icon, did TV news ignore the queer reality?
After all, not every unmarried TV star is accused of sexually harassing other
men. Look at Bob Barker–he was accused of sexually harassing *women* who worked
on his game show.
Griffin was one of the most powerful men in TV for 50 years. He won numerous
awards for his role in the TV landscape, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy.
And no one can deny the impact he had on the tube.
Griffin had money to burn. He could easily have blasted through the small screen
closet of TV and never looked back. But instead he covered his tracks repeatedly
and got rid of any obvious queers on any of his sets. “Blow job or no job,” said
one insider.
What’s more, Griffin had many friends in high places–like President Reagan and
his wife, Nancy, with whom he was frequently photographed.
We happened to be covering Washington in those days. The voice of an out gay man
with financial and celebrity clout during the Reagan years could have saved
thousands of lives–queer lives–of people with AIDS, by drawing attention to the
issue.
It never happened.
For decades Griffin was grilled by reporters about his sexuality. In those
interviews he never denied he was gay, but he never admitted it, either.
Griffin’s legacy will be, undoubtedly, the phenomena of *Jeopardy* and *Wheel of
Fortune,* among other TV shows. But for some of us who are still waiting for a
big gay TV star to come out and explode the lavender tube, Griffin’s
decades-long silence represents a golden opportunity lost.
Finally, *Good Morning America* co-host Robin Roberts, who has been on
everybody’s dykes-to-watch-out-for list for eons, announced on the August 1st
show that she has breast cancer.
Roberts returned to *GMA* on August 13th, just ten days after her surgery,
looking like she’d been on vacation, instead of having breast cancer surgery.
She sat in her seat like the all-American poster girl for “You *Can* Beat
Cancer.” Ever the tough cookie, Roberts thanked everyone for sticking by her
through her dark days and read some of the thousands of emails she received. It
was pretty moving stuff for TV morning land.
We’d *love* to see Roberts hurl herself out of the closet. But in the meantime,
we’re happy to have her address the cancer closet with her characteristic verve.
If she’s this good a role model for cancer patients, then we can only imagine
what she might do for young closeted African American lesbians on a basketball
team somewhere in Mississippi, like she once was.
Memo to Roberts: If you can fight cancer with this kind of panache, you can
fight homophobia, no problem. As the swoosh says, *just do it.*
Stay tuned.
In response to, "Like
everything, the working class will pay for whatever the government, and more to
the point, the Republicans can think of. Eight bucks is only the beginning,"
Robert Dozer writes:
You find this pro wealth injustice by Bloomberg surprising do you? This entire
country has turned into a help the wealth and screw the poor paradigm, it is a
fact of life in the Bush years. Unions discouraged, gradual rising tax levels
eliminated, jobs of the middle class outsourced, voting privileges reduced and
Jim Crow laws in the South has risen its ugly head.
Georgia has a State, ID that is almost inaccessible to the African American
community, Florida has felons listed that are refused a chance to vote yet 60%
of the felon rolls were incorrect and thousands of eligible voters were left out
of the democratic process. Supreme Court picks a president stops the vote count
and so much more it would take an hours to cover half of the anti democratic
anti populist moves by this misanthropic bunch of sociopaths.
In response to, Eddie Konzcal's "Lame Brain Bush" and this from Dan
Quayle, addressing the United Negro College Fund, "What a waste it is to lose
one's mind. Or not to have a mind," (and Eddie's note stating "How true it is")
Robert Scardapane writes:
In Bush's case, "a mind is a terrible thing to use".
I just got home from a business trip to the land of ex-governor George W. Bush -
Dallas, TX. I had a tough time going from the airport to the hotel. The
directions told me to turn on to President Bush highway. I just couldn't make
myself do it ... just kidding. Kidding aside, it was over 103 degrees every day.
No climate change there ... right President Global Warming Bush?
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-Noah Greenberg